Steven Barry Poster ASC, CSC (born 1 March 1944) is an American cinematographer. He served as the president of the International Cinematographers Guild from 2006 to 2019.
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Poster studied at Southern Illinois University, the ArtCenter College of Design, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Poster began his filmmaking career as a creative assistant at 'The Film Group,' a Chicago-based commercial film production company. After being promoted to director of photography for his skill at lighting, he met Herschell Gordon Lewis and worked with him in various crew positions on a total of three films.
He founded a production company with director Michael Mann, and served as the cinematographer on numerous industrial and education films. His 1973 short film Another Saturday Night, which he co-directed with Mik Derks, was nominated for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. In 1977, he was the second unit cinematographer for Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In 1980, he relocated to Hollywood and shot his first feature film as cinematographer, Blood Beach. He also worked second unit or additional photography for Blade Runner, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and several John Carpenter films.
Poster joined the American Society of Cinematographers in 1987. The same year, he shot Someone to Watch Over Me for director Ridley Scott, which earned him an ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases
He shot the iconic music video to Madonna's "Like a Prayer", as well as commercials directed by Ridley Scott and Kinka Usher.
In 2006, he was elected as the National President of the International Cinematographers Guild, a position he held until 2019. He is also a former executive board member of the International Documentary Association, and currently sits on the Nicholl Fellowship committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is also an adjunct professor at the ArtCenter College of Design.
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TV movies